Failure stories?! :)

DapperKay

This has been probably done before, but I'm seriously interested in failure stories when it comes to maintenance.

Particularly, I am interested in the following:

1- When you started failing after losing weight
2- How long did you lose weight for?
3- How long after failing did you realize things were wrong?
4- Did you do anything to change it immediately?
5- Did you exercise? If so, how often

I'm just trying to get us to talk to each other about the pitfalls and to see if there are patterns or trends that we can all observe.

lighteningjeanne855

This might be a better topic in the forum "Success Stories".
A person newly-come to maintenance might not care to contemplate failure
after all their work is accomplished.
People who have overcome a failure to maintain
would be more willing to share their stories.

luvinna

This has been probably done before, but I'm seriously interested in failure stories when it comes to maintenance.

Particularly, I am interested in the following:

1- When you started failing after losing weight
2- How long did you lose weight for?
3- How long after failing did you realize things were wrong?
4- Did you do anything to change it immediately?
5- Did you exercise? If so, how often

I'm just trying to get us to talk to each other about the pitfalls and to see if there are patterns or trends that we can all observe.

Well, regardless of where this topic should be, I'll bite... I'll tell the story in chronological order which should answer all your questions.

I'd known I needed to lose weight since 2007 but didn't really do anything about it. In the summer of 2008 I had to go buy almost a whole new wardrobe because everything I had was too small. Still didn't do anything about it despite seeing the pictures of myself at my friend's wedding. I consider these my "fat pictures".

In 2009 I finally decided to do something when the clothes I'd bought the year before started to get too small. I finally went out and bought a scale and was stunned to see that I weighed 163 (I'm 5'1", so that's a lot). From May 2009 to May 2010 I got down to 124 by pretty much doing what I'm doing now: eat less, move more, though I didn't have the fancy app, or know about the website. I was 120-125 through high school and college, so I was happy seeing 124.

I'm not sure how long exactly I maintained because I got lazy and stopped weighing myself and stopped paying attention to how much I ate and exercised. I would guess it probably lasted until the holiday season of 2010. In 2011 I sprained my ankle and my exercising pretty well disappeared and I went back to my old eating habits. By the end of 2011 I knew I was gaining weight again because my size 6 jeans no longer fit. By autumn of 2012 I was once again faced with the prospect of buying a new wardrobe because everything was too small. I decided it would be cheaper to lose the weight again instead.

So when a friend told me about this app last November (and I'd just gotten my first smartphone) I downloaded it and dared to step on the scale again. I hadn't gained it all back, but I was within 10 pounds of my high.

Now, nearly a year later, I'm close enough to my goal that I consider myself in maintenance. I'm finding sticking to my calorie goals to be not too difficult 6 out of the 7 days of the week. But now that the days are getting shorter and colder I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to exercise since my preferred kind is walking. It's just so tempting to curl up on the couch with a book and my cat in my lap to stay warm.